Iraq War veteran nearly killed in violent attack on Colfax Ave. in Denver

DENVER — R&B Superstar Lauren Hill was the featured performer at the Fillmore last Friday night.

Jennifer Muenzenmayer and her friend Jonathan Hammond had just left when it happened.

“Jonathan put me in the passenger side of the vehicle. He walked to driver`s side and that`s when he was attacked,” said Muenzenmayer.

The attack happened at E. Colfax Ave. and Pearl St., just one block from Denver’s largest police precinct.

Cell phone video captured the chaos as police came from every direction. Two men tried to rob Hammond, and when he refused, one of them shot him, piercing a major artery in his leg.

It was the third violent crime in Capitol Hill in just weeks.

“All I can do is pray and have faith in God,” said June Hammond, Jonathan’s mother. “There`s nothing like getting a phone call at 3 o’clock in the morning and you have no idea what happened other than there was a shooting and your son’s in critical condition.”

But Jonathan Hammond is much more than just a victim of another crime.

He’s a veteran surviving 12 years in the Iraq war.

All of that, and it was a bullet last Friday night in Denver that nearly killed him.

“It`s tragic. Some guy decides he wants your money, and his whole life is changed because of that,” said Jonathan’s father, Steve Hammond.

Hammond has survived four surgeries and doctors hope they can save his leg. There were times, when his father worried he wouldn’t make it

“When they got the blood clot from here to his leg he wasn’t getting any pulse.”

As most families gather around a table Thursday, Jonathan’s family will gather around his hospital bed.

“We`re thankful he lived.”

They say a senseless crime taught them more about giving thanks than most people learn in a lifetime.

Having recently been discharged from the military, Jonathan was in the process of completing his insurance paperwork. He was uninsured when he was shot. His family has set up a PayPal account for anyone who may want to help.